St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-06-29
MINNEAPOLIS
UNDER WHICH CONTROL?

UNDER w HUH CoNIRoII!
For the past three months the police
control of Minneapolis has rested en-
tirely with the board of police commits
siOnerS. Prior to that time the mayor
of the city was the responsible head of
the police department, and directly
answerable to the people for his conduct
of the department. A Republican mi
nority of the city determined to try an
experiment and induced the Republican
majority in the legislature to so change
the law as TO diveSt the mayor of his
police powers, and with them clOthe
four men, to be known as police COM
miSSi0ners. This experiment has been
given a test of three months. Is ii salts
factory? 1t IS claimed by many that the
new plan was simply a means of depriv-
ing Mayor AMEs of his power, but be
that as it may, it was never advanced as
an argument in favor of the change.
The new plan was advocated on its
merits and it is now matter of interest
to know how it has operated and
whether it has been an improvement.
1t was charged that under AMES' adj
ministration the city was given over to
lawlesSneSS; that gambling tiourished
unchecked; that violations of the liquor
law were frequent and fragrant and that
the scarlet woman Haunted herself with
lmpunity in the public gaze. But it was
most forcibly stated that thieves and
thugs found the city paradise and
they were even invited, by several
papers, to come to the harvest
which was awaiting them here. During
the AMEs administration the police
were instructed to furnish all informa-
ton of lawleSSnesS to the press, and
there was no case of robbery, burglary
or other crime that was not made imme
diate public property. The result was
that the public got, i'll its worst and
most exaggerated form, all of the GRIM
lnal doingS under the AMES regime.
With a truly non-partiSan spirit the
Republican press magnitied and multi
piled the robberies, burglaries and the
operations of confidence men, and
printed scare head accounts of the mag
nificent system of gambling which flour
1Shed. There was no concealment on
any hand and the public knew the very
worst of what was transporting within
the city.
But when the police commission
took hold and passed the force through
the purifying fires, what was the result?
For the first month, the policemen were
kept i'll state of suspense and diSOr-
ganization that utterly Frustrated it.:
then sweeping changes were made and
then under new head, the city guar
dams swept out to reform the city. 1t
Is evident to any sane person that not
one radical reform has been made.
Within the past two months there
has been more robberies than in
any similar length of time in the his
tory of the city. The number
of rObberieS made public has been
larger, but for some reason which may
readily be fathomed, burglaries reported
to the police are suppressed and the
public is no wiser; indeed, cases have
come to light where the police have
actually requested the victims to keep
quiet on the subject of their losses. AS
far as protection goes, the city is worse
off than if it had no force at all. The
idea of the commission was best
eXemplified in its abolition of the detect
i've force, which step was suddenly re-
Scinded in the face of storm of public
disapproval.
In the matter of gambling the same
end has been reached. With a great
show of intention, all of the gaming eS-
adjustments were to be rooted out,
but the commodity with which hades is
NIL fnI nd
scarce. 1t is the sheereSt folly to sup
pose there is any less public gambling
i'll the city now than six months ago.
No one fully cOgniZant of the situation
believes this evil has been curbed in the
least. An evening paper recently made
fresh parade over the discOv-
cry of a gaming room in one of
the hotels, but such an announcement
was farce in the face of the fact that
many of the large business blocks are
honey-combed with dens of this charac-
ter. The traffic runs rampant in the
city and every body knows it. Mayor
AMEs told the public of it. through the
GLOBE, and that public we'll knows how
little is his influence with the board
which succeeded him and in which he
holds shadowy position.
1t is almost useless to carry out the
comparison in the liquor cases and the
scarlet women. OF reform in either
there has been none. At attempted re-
form there has been little or no appar-
ent effort. Both have gone on as usual.
There is no single benefit of this police
commission system upt n which finger
can be placed. An expense of over
5000 has been saddled upon the people
without the shadow of compensation:
and, worse than all, there is no redress.
When the mayor was the responsible
head he was every second year answera-
BILE to the people for his use or abuse of
powers conferred, but the police COM
mission, with its four-year term, is re-
sponsible only through the vague me-
dunn of the council. Is the new system
success? Has the city benefited by it?